In an It’s Our World special report Amy Merone from Southport reports from Kenya, where she is working with Christian Aid

FOR several years Rogers Ochieng would use a bicycle to reach some of the poorest, least accessible communities in western Kenya.

Driven by a calling to help people who were suffering as a result of illnesses such as malaria, HIV and TB Rogers would spend hours each day as a volunteer trying to reach people in his community to provide advice on healthcare.

“This kind of work needs to be done,” says Rogers. “If it is not done then the majority of people will succumb to HIV, malaria and many other illnesses – and they will die.”

It is a view shared by the Anglican Church of Kenya’s Development Services Nyanza (ADS), a local Christian Aid partner organisation that works around the Kisumu area of western Kenya.

Today Rogers is one of 12 volunteers who have been trained as community health workers by ADS as part of the Rural Transport Network (RTN) project they are running with Christian Aid and Virgin Unite.

They have been given motorbikes to go into remote towns and villages and educate communities about illnesses such as HIV, malaria, typhoid and TB. And where needed they deliver medicines to sick people. They work long hours every day often taking sick people to hospital on the back of their bikes.

For the past four years, with a motorbike instead of a bicycle, Rogers has been able to visit up to 18 households a day often covering 14 kilometres.

“When I used to go by bicycle it was very strenuous and tiresome and it took many hours. Now I go to a lot of people. I want to reach everybody and share the message to give people hope for a better future, for a better life.”

It is easy to see why Rogers is so passionate about his work and the need to reach as many people as possible.

In Nyanza Province, in western Kenya, almost 14% of the adult population is HIV positive making it the province with the highest prevalence rate in Kenya. In addition 40% of the population here are affected by malaria.

Rogers and the other volunteers have worked tirelessly to educate communities about HIV prevention and try to challenge the stigma that prevents many people accessing testing and life- saving treatment.

“I want to say that we have tried very hard. In the 1990s it was much worse because in every home there would be people on the bed. But now, because of our efforts, we have managed to give people information, to encourage them and support them.”

HIV was first identified in Kenya in 1984 and Rogers says the way that the virus was explained to the Kenyan public at the time still has implications today.

“The way the information was given to the people was poor. It impacted quite negatively on how HIV was perceived and you realise that the majority of people still experience stigma today.”

Celestine, one of Rogers’ patients, lives with her two children on the shores of Lake Victoria in Goi Village. Twelve years ago her husband died of an HIV-related illness. He was just 36-years-old.

Celestine had heard about Rogers’s health work in the community and when she herself became sick, she sent for him to advise her.

“Rogers told me a lot of things about malaria,” Celestine says. “I realised that the symptoms that he was talking about were similar to those that I was having. However I did not recover very fast and Rogers advised me that if we were treating malaria and I was not getting well, then it could be something else. I found out that I was HIV positive.”

Celestine was, she says, remarkably calm about finding out her status.

“When I found out I was HIV positive I did not have any problem. I was not scared and did not feel sorry for myself. I accepted it. It was because of Rogers that made me accept and go for a test.”

Life is not easy for Celestine. She used to make a living selling fish from Lake Victoria. But she has seen stocks of fish reduce over the years making this way of life unsustainable.

She and her youngest daughter Irene are currently supported by Lavender, Celestine’s eldest daughter, who works full-time selling mobile phone accessories.

Lavender would like to be a nurse. But at the moment her job provides the only regular source of income for the family.

Without it Celestine would not be able to afford the KSh600 (£3.70) round-trip transport costs to collect her HIV medicines every month.

Rogers’s support is vital to people like Celestine who often find themselves isolated within their community.

“As a widow people look down on you,” she says. “They really fear us because they think we have nothing in return to offer them. From Rogers I get a lot of support and I think that is why I look healthy. I used to be very thin – I was just like a walking stick. Since Rogers has come I have added weight.”

Visiting communities that Rogers supports it is clear to see the positive impact that his work is having. The children shout “doctor, doctor” as he arrives – his bike often laden with mosquito nets and medicines.

“They call me the mobile doctor,” he says. “I wish people could see the way communities are overwhelmed with HIV, with malaria, with TB and with many other illnesses,” Rogers says.

“I think people would appreciate what we have done.”

If you would like toŠdonate toŠChristian Aid's ChristmasŠAppeal or find out more about its work on health and HIV, visit www.christianaid.org.uk/christmas or call 0845 7000 300.